CS 178 - Digital Photography

What's inside a digital camera? This is a cutaway view of the Canon Digital
Rebel 1000D. Here's a more instructive
diagram, showing the main optical paths. We'll take apart a camera in
class.

Most photography books talk about depth of field and depth of focus, but few of
them give a formula for it. Here it is. N is the F-number, f is focal length,
C is pixel size, and U is distance to the scene. We'll study this formula in
class, and you'll be asked to experiment with depth of field effects in your
weekly photographic assignments.

This is a tough shot, because the arcade ceiling is much darker than the
courtyard beyond. I solved it by combining three exposures, an idea called
"high dynamic range" imaging. You don't need a special camera for this; we'll
try it in class. Here are more shots from India.

Dorothea Lange's iconic portrait of a migrant mother during the Great
Depression. We'll survey the history of photography and study
the work of good photographers.

Course description

An introduction to the scientific, artistic, and computing aspects of digital
photography - how digital cameras work, how to take good pictures using them,
and how to manipulate these pictures afterwards. Topics include lenses and
optics, light and sensors, optical effects in nature, perspective and depth of
field, sampling and noise, the camera as a computing platform, image processing
and editing, history of photography, and computational photography. We'll also
survey the history of photography and look at the work of famous photographers.
Coursework is written assignments, exams, and photography assignments.
Enrolled students will be given free access to Photoshop CS5 during the course.
Counts as a CS elective in the Graphics Track. Also satisfies
GER:DB-EngrAppSci.